The Trump administration told Congress last month that it would send funding to support a Gaza stabilization force, a State Department spokesperson said on Thursday, an initial step toward implementing a peace plan that President Trump has promoted but Israel has spurned.
The State Department’s notification to Congress came on the same day that Mr. Trump announced that his Board of Peace had reached a deal with Hamas for the militant group to disarm and for Israeli forces to withdraw from Gaza. But the deal soon faltered, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel rejected the plan this month.
Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and a close adviser, traveled to the Middle East this week to meet with Hamas leaders in Egypt and Mr. Netanyahu in Jerusalem to try to shore up support for the deal.
The talks did not appear to break the logjam, and the day after Mr. Kushner’s meeting with Mr. Netanyahu, Israel conducted a deadly airstrike on Gaza, killing at least seven people. Israel’s defense minister said the strike signaled Israel’s unwavering position.
The president’s plan envisions a phased process for disarming Hamas and handing over its weapons to a new Palestinian administration while Israel gradually withdraws from Gaza. The international stabilization force would occupy Gaza and help oversee the demilitarization.
But Mr. Netanyahu has refused to pull back the country’s military until Hamas fully disarms, and deadly clashes have continued on and off since an initial cease-fire was reached in October.
Tommy Pigott, a State Department spokesman, said in a statement on Thursday that “we are committed to the full implementation of the president’s historic 21-point peace plan,” adding that the Gaza stabilization force was a “key component” of that plan.
The administration’s plan to fund the stabilization force was reported earlier by Reuters.
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